SETH GODIN: This Is How You Create A Remarkable Product

In the past, brilliant marketing could sell even the most
ordinary product or service. But today, competition is so fierce
that you actually have to create something remarkable in order to
succeed, says marketing guru Seth Godin in his
book, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being
Remarkable.

According to Godin, it's "the era of the cow" and no longer
acceptable to even be "very good" since that's an "everyday
occurrence and hardly worth mentioning."

Here are his most valuable tips about what differentiates a
remarkable product from a mediocre one:

1. Create demand by making your product an
outlier. Wal-Mart,
Neiman Marcus, Motel 6 and the Four Seasons have all experienced
tremendous growth and success because they're outliers.

What does this mean? It means the product is either "super-fast
or super-slow, very exclusive or very cheap, very big or very
small."

Godin says to "go for the edges. Challenge yourself and your team
to describe what those edges are, and then test which edge is
most likely to deliver the marketing and financial results you
seek."

2. Playing it safe is the riskiest strategy of
all. "In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a
failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as
being invisible," Godin says.

3. When something's not going to work, recognize the sunk
costs and move on. At the point that you know your
product's future isn't going to be remarkable, it's time to
change route immediately. Why? Because unless people are going to
be fascinated by it, they're not going to talk about it, so
investing in this "dying product" isn't worthwhile.

4. Instead of trying to sell to the masses, grab the
attention of "the sneezers." In the beginning, the
customers you attract are crucial, because they're going to be
the ones who get the word out for you. In other words, don't make
your product "bland enough to work for the masses. These
companies make spicy food less spicy, and they make insanely
great service a little less great (and a little cheaper)."

5. Identify your most profitable
demographic. "The Sneezers" will eventually
enable your idea to "migrate to the rest of the masses."

You need to figure out the group of people that's most profitable
for your business and appeal to them. It'd be even better if you
"figure out how to develop/advertise/reward either group."

Aside from these "sneezers," Godin says you should ignore
everyone else and shouldn't aim to cater to the masses.

6. Take advantage of the
slump. It's easier to be remarkable during
an economic downturn because everyone else is too afraid to test
the waters.

In fact, right now is the perfect time to launch something
because the "marketplace is getting faster and more fluid. Yes,
we're too busy to pay attention, but a portion of the population
is more restless than ever. Some people are happy to switch their
long distance service, their airline, their accounting
firm—whatever it takes to get an edge," Godin says.

7. Get in the zone. You don't have
to be a genius to create a hit product, but you do need to have
the right mindset.

Godin says you don't need a ton of passion or creativity. What
you do need is "that insight to realize that you have no other
choice but to grow your business or launch your product with
Purple Cow thinking."

If you want to make something mediocre, this kind of thinking is
obviously not needed, but if you want something remarkable, your
strategy needs to be a little more focused on long-term results.

8. Take a cheap shot. If you've tried all
outlets and it doesn't take off, then figure out a way to
distribute it more cheaply.

Companies that choose the cheap route can still create demand for
their products. Godin says being cheap is the "lazy way out of
the battle for the Purple Cow," but can be used as a last refuge
if you're out of great ideas.

"If you could build a competitor that had costs that were 30
percent lower than yours, could you do it? If you could, why
don't you?"

9. Don't be a one-hit wonder. Once
you've created a hit, it's time to launch a new remarkable
product.

Palm,
Yahoo!,
AOL,
Marriott,
Marvel
Comics and Maxwell House all did this: "Each company had a
breakthrough, built an empire around it, and then failed to take
another risk."

Maxwell House decided to play it safe pre-Starbucks invasion and
now "they remain stuck with not much more than they had a decade
ago."

Instead, they should've launched a new Purple Cow. "Do it again
(to the same audience)," Godin writes, "but also assume what was
remarkable last time won't be so remarkable this time."